This is a town that has one gas station, one small mom and pop shop, a doctors office, a small post office, and a small police force. A few jobs in mining coal and working with a natural gas company. Not a lot of options!!! The people like me whose families have been there for 3-4 generations hate to move away from our families, but can afford to live life that way. I know it's not the only place like this in America - but how can we afford not to raise awareness.
I am from Delbarton Wv and know the Dingess Tunnel well. I left for Cleveland Oh 1960 for work. My heart is still in Delbarton. My dad worked for Puritan mines and I graduated from the old Burch high. What great people
Being from Bradshaw WV, I can attest that it is a place that has been forgotten not just in the past 10 years but more like 30 years. Many people when I was a kid growing up survived on federal welfare, and unfortunately jobs were #'ed and many men and women were not able to seek work. Even if they could work - they earned more money being completely desolate than trying to earn a living. It is a viscous cycle that has left many good people broken.
These stories makes me proud to be a west virginian. Help your neighbors. God only knows our local and state government doesn't offer any help. Prayers are always needed and accepted. I pray for McDowell County, I pray for our Country. I even want to pray for our government even though THEY want handouts Lord only knows they don't offer any. May God Bless you All.
Im from mcdowell but i left when i was 16 years old and went to raleigh co . I married my hubby here and made my life in raleigh co, but i still love mcdowell because its apart of me, and its so sad to see how bad its has gotten there.. God Bless Mcdowell county and all who live there.
It's really hard to hear my state talked about this way. I volunteered in Welch for two summers, and seeing how outsiders from other states reacted to the town versus how those from WV did was a little heartbreaking... and very insulting. Welch needs help, but not the kind that belittles or assumes things about the residents. For example, during my stay in Welch, another volunteer from Indiana assumed I couldn't afford to go to an out-of-state college simply because I was from this state. There's a divide quickly building between areas that get assistance in the US versus areas that don't, and though it's probably inevitable, people need to be more aware of that divide and look around it when they volunteer in underprivileged areas. Just because people are having tough times in this state doesn't mean they get to be looked down upon, generalized, or stereotyped.
What's so great about Welch? Did the drug dealers or the hooker's amuse you? It's a hole in the Earth. You can't fix this place and trying to make it seem like a great place is really you living in fantasy land. You visited not lived here. It's trashy and a disgrace to the rest of the state. I've lived here my whole life it's not banjo's and coal mining. Trust me it's all garbage.
Good people in McDowell because we don't have riches doesn't mean we are trash !! It sad that there's nowhere to go for help times safe so hard I eqish I could get loads of food clothing furniture shoes just mix of things to help give to people that are in dire need even the hands of hope that is in town charge out the BUT" for things that so many give them for the county but u can't ask for a food box and get food to feed ya kids unless you have 5dollors and this people is a true fact!!! McDowell needs help so many families go hungry go without .. I just ran up in this video and unless you are or live here u truly don't know the depths of just how much we do need help.pls say a prayer for our county our families our children .
Cathy Mullins I live in Mercer county and I know what you are saying is true. The world is going to clean energy and it should but that doesn't mean that the miners shouldn't have help finding new jobs! I'm sorry to say it but coal is finished and I will pray that there are clean energy opportunities for the miners!
Calvary not coming. Either better yourselves or move to where you can build a REAL life. Otherwise you will starve. Don't sit around waiting for the government to come bail you out. I guarantee the way you people voted it's every man for himself. No help from DC anymore. It's almost funny that these people are so desperate and elect a party that's motto is "Pull yourself up by your Bootstraps", -R Reagan.
@@stormy8092 so they should vote for the idiotic party that put the coal mines out of business? Wasn't it hilary that said that she would close the mines. Didn't Obama put so many new restrictions on the coal industry. The reason the Republicans say pull yourself up by the boot straps is they want you to not rely on foodstamps that the dems want everyone on. At least be a little more intelligent when saying wrong info
You guys should make a facebook post for foreigners coming over to help. if you take care of food and a place to sleep for them, i'm sure there are people who would love to come working on this cause from europe (instead of taking a vacation;-)
My people lived and still live there. I am old enough to remember how proud the people were back fifty years ago. Nobody would accept welfare back then. They got by somehow even in hard times. It's not the same now. People are so devastated by how our own government attacked the way of life. The new socialist/dems have trampled any goodness that was left, other than some of the amazing people still living there. So sad what our own leaders did to us.
I was born in Welch and raised in McDowell Co. At 2min57 seconds narrator says that visitors from NYC and Wash DC came to be entertained in Welch. Thats ridiculous. I didnt see any tourists at all and nobody I know saw any either. We were there for one reason, to work. Daniel Coleman, Pageton WV.
Life's tough in the ".free state". It's hardly Obama's fault as some say though. Populations have been decreasing by large numbers ever since mechanization began. The continuous miner and belts and so forth have replaced all but a small percentage of needed miners. From a health standpoint the less miners that have to die in accidents and struggling to breathe with black lung the better. The worst mistake was not investing in other industries while times were good.
THOSE COAL MINES CLOSED DOWN THOSE MANY YEARS AGO BECAUSE WHEN THE COMPANIES THAT OWNED THEM NOTICED THEY WEREN'T MAKING MUCH OF A PROFIT THEY WERE SOLD TO OTHER COMPANIES WHO SOLD THEM TO OTHER COMPANIES AND SO ON, BUT BECAUSE NOBODY SAW ANY GREAT PROFIT IN COAL THAT IS WHY THEY WENT OUT OF BUSINESS.
Why is it that President Obama is being blamed for the decrease in the coal industry. When strip mining started in ky that is when things took a turn for the worse Also automation took alot of these jobs to. I understand that people have the need to blame someone. The Government can start poring monies back in to the community with job training programs that can help all the people obtain jobs.
It's hard to believe this sort of thing is present in America. At least some of the financial difficulties they've experienced were due to government regulation killing their industry and jobs. What is government doing for them now? Volunteers had to do whatever they could to help out. It's nice to know someone cares. What happened to LBJ's "Great Society?"
I was raised in Mc Dowell County.I am happy to see people get help and people feel good about helping, but tell the truth okay.Yes they have their poor and stupied like everywhere else.They have housing like the Elkhorn Towers for elderly and handicap other housing for their poor but you will never see that on a video.I just want the world to know " if you let your raw sewage run in the creeks and rivers here you will get a fine" the law does not allow this and has not for sometime. "FORGOTTEN" ? Really? You need to forget it.
People have got to want to be helped before they can be helped, and the bigger part of those people in that cesspool area of our state do not want to be helped. They're content with nothing or else they would be doing something to change their situations. Were it me, and I had a family, I'd leave and find me some work somewhere and come get them, and get then out of there. I am convinced that people there do not really want any better, but it isn't just them, the entire southern part of WV is just like them. People stuck in poverty and they don't care, so long as they get their EBT, Welfare, and their pills - they're fine. That's a sad fact of life, but it is what it is. You have to want to do better before you can have better.
I get the impression that some people are pissed that outsiders came and made them feel bad when they helped. Unlike a lot of people I can understand that because when I was a kid and the welfare people came to our house with boxes of food because we had none. My father being from tennessee and with all his southern pride kicked all the boxes of food into the front yard and run off the two men and one woman and called them every name in the book. Now thats a real smart thing to do when you have a wife a four hungry kids but thats what you do when your a proud southerner . After about 2o minutes my dad told us kids to go out there and pick up that crap and bring it in the house. While I was picking up the food I looked down the highway and noticed the welfare folks parked about 3/4 a mile down the road watching to make sure we got it. I never said anything to my dad because he then would have piled it up and burnt it in the front yard. Sometimes its hard to help some people. No Im much older and I go to church regular and sometimes it pisses me off when my church goes on mission trips to poland and hatti and wastes two and three thousand dollars in airfare per person and in groups of 10 to 20 people just to spend 2 or 3 days trying to give the message of the lord to people that dont understand our language. That money would be spent so much better funding a local organisation in bad areas like McDowell County . But I guess churches do this because the dont get the resistance from fournier's like they do from Americans. The fourniers are more than happy to take the help
I heard that ten to twenty thousand coal mining jobs will be created by Trump in West Virginia by the end of the year. maybe up to forty thousand by 2020.
You’re so smart! Good job! C I live in WV I know that coal isn't going to come back like it was. And yes a few steel jobs are returning but a lot of other plants are closing due to Trumps tariffs. You need to fact check before you open your mouth.
Christopher Mahaffey then stay your ass away we don't care if you come here! I'm thinking you are the worst person ever! Keep your mouth dhut and stay away we will happy without you!
They are poor, but the salt of the Earth people. You would be hard pressed to find better people
May The Lord bless you all for your help for this man. One house, one life.. Don't forget the forgotten! Amen.
This is a town that has one gas station, one small mom and pop shop, a doctors office, a small post office, and a small police force. A few jobs in mining coal and working with a natural gas company. Not a lot of options!!! The people like me whose families have been there for 3-4 generations hate to move away from our families, but can afford to live life that way. I know it's not the only place like this in America - but how can we afford not to raise awareness.
I am from Delbarton Wv and know the Dingess Tunnel well. I left for Cleveland Oh 1960 for work. My heart is still in Delbarton. My dad worked for Puritan mines and I graduated from the old Burch high. What great people
Being from Bradshaw WV, I can attest that it is a place that has been forgotten not just in the past 10 years but more like 30 years. Many people when I was a kid growing up survived on federal welfare, and unfortunately jobs were #'ed and many men and women were not able to seek work. Even if they could work - they earned more money being completely desolate than trying to earn a living.
It is a viscous cycle that has left many good people broken.
How is it now
These stories makes me proud to be a west virginian. Help your neighbors. God only knows our local and state government doesn't offer any help. Prayers are always needed and accepted. I pray for McDowell County, I pray for our Country. I even want to pray for our government even though THEY want handouts Lord only knows they don't offer any. May God Bless you All.
Im from mcdowell but i left when i was 16 years old and went to raleigh co . I married my hubby here and made my life in raleigh co, but i still love mcdowell because its apart of me, and its so sad to see how bad its has gotten there.. God Bless Mcdowell county and all who live there.
It's really hard to hear my state talked about this way. I volunteered in Welch for two summers, and seeing how outsiders from other states reacted to the town versus how those from WV did was a little heartbreaking... and very insulting. Welch needs help, but not the kind that belittles or assumes things about the residents. For example, during my stay in Welch, another volunteer from Indiana assumed I couldn't afford to go to an out-of-state college simply because I was from this state. There's a divide quickly building between areas that get assistance in the US versus areas that don't, and though it's probably inevitable, people need to be more aware of that divide and look around it when they volunteer in underprivileged areas. Just because people are having tough times in this state doesn't mean they get to be looked down upon, generalized, or stereotyped.
Get over it already. People are cruel, that's just the way of the world. Do your part and stop worrying about what others say.
What's so great about Welch? Did the drug dealers or the hooker's amuse you? It's a hole in the Earth. You can't fix this place and trying to make it seem like a great place is really you living in fantasy land. You visited not lived here. It's trashy and a disgrace to the rest of the state. I've lived here my whole life it's not banjo's and coal mining. Trust me it's all garbage.
"FOR THE FORGOTTEN !!!!!!!!!!!!" - Braveheart
May God Bless you!
Good people in McDowell because we don't have riches doesn't mean we are trash !! It sad that there's nowhere to go for help times safe so hard I eqish I could get loads of food clothing furniture shoes just mix of things to help give to people that are in dire need even the hands of hope that is in town charge out the BUT" for things that so many give them for the county but u can't ask for a food box and get food to feed ya kids unless you have 5dollors and this people is a true fact!!! McDowell needs help so many families go hungry go without .. I just ran up in this video and unless you are or live here u truly don't know the depths of just how much we do need help.pls say a prayer for our county our families our children .
Cathy Mullins I live in Mercer county and I know what you are saying is true. The world is going to clean energy and it should but that doesn't mean that the miners shouldn't have help finding new jobs! I'm sorry to say it but coal is finished and I will pray that there are clean energy opportunities for the miners!
Calvary not coming. Either better yourselves or move to where you can build a REAL life. Otherwise you will starve. Don't sit around waiting for the government to come bail you out. I guarantee the way you people voted it's every man for himself. No help from DC anymore. It's almost funny that these people are so desperate and elect a party that's motto is "Pull yourself up by your Bootstraps", -R Reagan.
@@stormy8092 so they should vote for the idiotic party that put the coal mines out of business? Wasn't it hilary that said that she would close the mines. Didn't Obama put so many new restrictions on the coal industry. The reason the Republicans say pull yourself up by the boot straps is they want you to not rely on foodstamps that the dems want everyone on. At least be a little more intelligent when saying wrong info
I was born in Welch in 1975 and my family lived in War. Hate seeing my home in such bad shape
Have you been back to visit lately ?
Read “ Night Comes To The Cumberland’s” by Harry Caudill from Whitesburg, Kentucky. It really explains of the plight of so many folks in Appalachia.
I'm originally from McDowell County and yes, it's bad. Props to this particular church.
But we send billions to other countries that hate us while our people suffer in poverty. Charity starts at home first.
I've always lived in southern West Virginia but have never been to McDowell County. People who have been there have told me it is really bad.
born and raised in McDowell county mom said never go back there keep your childhood Memorys of maybury only in your head born 1946.
You guys should make a facebook post for foreigners coming over to help. if you take care of food and a place to sleep for them, i'm sure there are people who would love to come working on this cause from europe (instead of taking a vacation;-)
How about we send them to sleep at your house? Thanks!!! I will get started right away. Pfff😣
You mean homeless people
My people lived and still live there. I am old enough to remember how proud the people were back fifty years ago. Nobody would accept welfare back then. They got by somehow even in hard times. It's not the same now. People are so devastated by how our own government attacked the way of life. The new socialist/dems have trampled any goodness that was left, other than some of the amazing people still living there. So sad what our own leaders did to us.
The UMWA helped kill coal.
Mu mom is from SWITCHBACK West Virginia in McDowell County. A coal mining town.
I was born in Welch and raised in McDowell Co. At 2min57 seconds narrator says that visitors from NYC and Wash DC came to be entertained in Welch. Thats ridiculous. I didnt see any tourists at all and nobody I know saw any either. We were there for one reason, to work.
Daniel Coleman, Pageton WV.
Our family is born n raised in Switchback wv
Life's tough in the ".free state". It's hardly Obama's fault as some say though. Populations have been decreasing by large numbers ever since mechanization began. The continuous miner and belts and so forth have replaced all but a small percentage of needed miners. From a health standpoint the less miners that have to die in accidents and struggling to breathe with black lung the better. The worst mistake was not investing in other industries while times were good.
God bless you good people.
thanks to hillary its in poverty now
keen observer: stop with the blame game.
THOSE COAL MINES CLOSED DOWN THOSE MANY YEARS AGO BECAUSE WHEN THE COMPANIES THAT OWNED THEM NOTICED THEY WEREN'T MAKING MUCH OF A PROFIT THEY WERE SOLD TO OTHER COMPANIES WHO SOLD THEM TO OTHER COMPANIES AND SO ON, BUT BECAUSE NOBODY SAW ANY GREAT PROFIT IN COAL THAT IS WHY THEY WENT OUT OF BUSINESS.
People need to stop blaming Clinton and Obama! Though they didn't help the situation.
This has been happening since the early 80's.
This is been happening since World War II the decline of coal don't give me it's Obama don't give me this 1
Why is it that President Obama is being blamed for the decrease in the coal industry. When strip mining started in ky that is when things took a turn for the worse
Also automation took alot of these jobs to. I understand that people have the need to blame someone. The Government can start poring monies back in to the community with job training programs that can help all the people obtain jobs.
god bless all of you !
thanks to killary heartless
Thank u
Ok
It's hard to believe this sort of thing is present in America. At least some of the financial difficulties they've experienced were due to government regulation killing their industry and jobs. What is government doing for them now? Volunteers had to do whatever they could to help out. It's nice to know someone cares. What happened to LBJ's "Great Society?"
blame hillary for the poverty
Been there Many Years ago My Mother Knew a Evangelist who lived there! Named RA West I think, too Many Years ago and Mom is gone.
Tha answer to this all is work as a community...riches are fleeting...we cannot continue to rape the earth...it belongs to Yah...
Thats were im from and i miss it.
Amen.Proud to be from the free state of McDowell County.I miss it also.
Home💞
did you mention enough that he hasn't showered? geez
I was raised in Mc Dowell County.I am happy to see people get help and people feel good about helping, but tell the truth okay.Yes they have their poor and stupied like everywhere else.They have housing like the Elkhorn Towers for elderly and handicap other housing for their poor but you will never see that on a video.I just want the world to know " if you let your raw sewage run in the creeks and rivers here you will get a fine" the law does not allow this and has not for sometime. "FORGOTTEN" ? Really? You need to forget it.
thanks to hillary they are in this state
People have got to want to be helped before they can be helped, and the bigger part of those people in that cesspool area of our state do not want to be helped. They're content with nothing or else they would be doing something to change their situations. Were it me, and I had a family, I'd leave and find me some work somewhere and come get them, and get then out of there. I am convinced that people there do not really want any better, but it isn't just them, the entire southern part of WV is just like them. People stuck in poverty and they don't care, so long as they get their EBT, Welfare, and their pills - they're fine. That's a sad fact of life, but it is what it is. You have to want to do better before you can have better.
Robbie Smith wis the he'll are you to make that statement? It's all bullshit and you should have learned to keep your mouth shut s long time ago
B.S.!!!
I get the impression that some people are pissed that outsiders came and made them feel bad when they helped. Unlike a lot of people I can understand that because when I was a kid and the welfare people came to our house with boxes of food because we had none. My father being from tennessee and with all his southern pride kicked all the boxes of food into the front yard and run off the two men and one woman and called them every name in the book. Now thats a real smart thing to do when you have a wife a four hungry kids but thats what you do when your a proud southerner . After about 2o minutes my dad told us kids to go out there and pick up that crap and bring it in the house. While I was picking up the food I looked down the highway and noticed the welfare folks parked about 3/4 a mile down the road watching to make sure we got it. I never said anything to my dad because he then would have piled it up and burnt it in the front yard. Sometimes its hard to help some people. No Im much older and I go to church regular and sometimes it pisses me off when my church goes on mission trips to poland and hatti and wastes two and three thousand dollars in airfare per person and in groups of 10 to 20 people just to spend 2 or 3 days trying to give the message of the lord to people that dont understand our language. That money would be spent so much better funding a local organisation in bad areas like McDowell County . But I guess churches do this because the dont get the resistance from fournier's like they do from Americans. The fourniers are more than happy to take the help
Where did they get this narrator? He can't even pronounce Appalachia.
cathead77: probably the product of inbreeding. You should know all about that.
How's that?
Scandinavian l think
The stupid coal is king line followed by cheap rock n roll was so cringeworthy
I heard that ten to twenty thousand coal mining jobs will be created by Trump in West Virginia by the end of the year. maybe up to forty thousand by 2020.
hahahahaha
😅😅😅
You should go on stage , very funny man
@@Harrygreen111 I'm glad someone caught the joke.
@@falconeddy254 It only took 5 years lol
I feel nothing!
donald trump will restore coal
keen observer keep waiting and hoping... coal is gone forever. Nothing he can do about that
Don't hold your breath....coal is gone.
keen observer it will never happen!!!
Robin Hager Are you living under a rock? It IS happening and will get even better with all the steel companies that are opening back up
You’re so smart! Good job! C I live in WV I know that coal isn't going to come back like it was. And yes a few steel jobs are returning but a lot of other plants are closing due to Trumps tariffs. You need to fact check before you open your mouth.
Lose the banjo pickn Beverly hillbilly music and you will attract more donations and support.
That was the dumbest thing ever said.Undoubtly ,you have never been to McDowell County.
worst place ever..
Christopher Mahaffey then stay your ass away we don't care if you come here! I'm thinking you are the worst person ever! Keep your mouth dhut and stay away we will happy without you!
Try visiting Mansfield Victoria Australia , Shithole of the entire world